PORT Adelaide premiership hero and Magarey Medallist Scott Hodges has blasted the AFL for denying the Power its black jumper for Sunday’s elimination final against Richmond at Adelaide Oval — and challenged his club to stand by its AFL guernsey rather than wear its traditional SANFL black-and-white strip.

Hodges took to talkback radio on the FIVEaa Sports Show this afternoon to protest against the league’s decision to deny the Power its black home guernsey in the sudden-death final.

“How can Port Adelaide sit back and let the AFL bully them and walk all over them and say you have to wear a white bloody guernsey,” Hodges said.

“If you earn a home final, you earn the right to play in your home jumper. Full stop. I cannot believe this ... it is just a joke. I just can’t believe this AFL.

“Being an ex-Port Magpie, I am all for the prison-bar guernsey. But I can understand how (Power) supporters who were not brought up with that would feel. I would not have given up as easy as they did with that home black jumper.”

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As Hodges took the airwaves, Port Adelaide Football Club chief executive Keith Thomas sent a message to the Power members acknowledging some would feel uncomfortable seeing the prison-bar Magpies jumper worn in an AFL game.

“I know there are some of our supporters who do not readily connect with the club’s SANFL heritage for whom this decision is slightly uncomfortable,” he said.

“I understand that.

“Equally there are many of us who believe we should not have been forced into this compromised situation in the first place.

“Having taken all of these valid views into consideration, this is the process by which we reconciled the decision to wear our heritage guernsey: Firstly, what were our options?

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“1. Wear the home guernsey and cop a significant fine and the ire of the AFL - that would have been silly and immature.

“2. Rollover and wear the white clash guernsey - that didn’t feel right, given the principle we were fighting for.

“3. Wear the heritage guernsey - a compromise, but also an opportunity.

“That opportunity is to further reinforce our One Club philosophy and celebrate the rich history of our club on the big AFL stage.

“Two million people will now watch Travis Boak and Brad Ebert lead our team out in the same strip worn by our 1965 side – a black and white guernsey with white shorts - in Port Adelaide’s last premiership victory at the Adelaide Oval.

Earlier in the day, Port secured a guarantee the prison-bar guernsey can be produced in time by Sunday.

The Power also will wear white shorts and black socks.

The club says this concept meets the AFL’s demand for “a distinctive contrast” against the Richmond black-and-yellow jumper “that will benefit the broadcaster, spectators, players and umpires”.

It will be the first time the Power has worn the prison-bar jumper in the AFL since donning its 1977 premiership guernsey for the farewell to Football Park against Carlton in last year’s home-and-away season-closer at West Lakes.

In the face of an enormous backlash, the AFL agreed with football chief Mark Evans declaring: “While Collingwood is the club that has the right to wear black and white stripes within the AFL competition as its primary guernsey, they have agreed for Port Adelaide to wear its heritage prison bar guernsey with white shorts as a pragmatic resolution to produce the best outcome for this final.”

If the Power cannot get the gear in time, it will be forced to wear white at home for the first time.

Port player Hamish Harlett tweeted to offer his support, saying he would pitch in:

Hey @ISCSport , you need a spare pair of hands to get these prison bar guernseys done by the weekend?

“The AFL have listened to the feedback from our community and the broader football public and have been willing to support us with the alternative option of wearing our traditional prison bar guernsey,” he said.

“We thank the AFL for listening to our club and our community on this very important matter.

“And we are also very grateful to the Collingwood Football Club for taking a pragmatic view in the best interests of Sunday’s final and agreeing for us to wear black and white stripes.”

The compromise followed the Power labelling the AFL’s contentious decision to force it out of its black home guernsey for Sunday’s home final as the “last straw” in the long-running saga on AFL clash jumpers.

Thomas was forming a significant army of non-Victorian clubs — that now make up eight of the AFL’s 18 teams — to challenge an apparent bias that is favouring the VFL’s traditional clubs.

The Tigers will wear their famous black jumper with the yellow sash with Evans arguing: “Richmond’s clash guernsey did not provide a clear enough distinction between the teams, due to its predominantly black reverse.”

The concern with the clash of Port and Richmond jumpers contradicts AFL decisions in last year’s final series.

The league did not force Carlton out of its navy blue jumper to wear its white clash jumper when the Blues were the “away” team in last year’s elimination final against the Tigers at the MCG.

The decision also works against the AFL putting Richmond in its alternative jumper — that has the black marginalised by solid yellow side bars and a larger yellow sash — when Port last hosted the Tigers, at Football Park in round seven last season.

But, as West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett noted, it stays true to the AFL forcing the Eagles out of its home jumper when it hosted Richmond at home in July.

“From us to West Coast, we are furious that some clubs are forced to wear a white clash jumper or come up with alternative strips and some clubs are not,” Thomas told The Advertiser.

“It is time that there was one rule on alternative jumpers — and one rule that applies to everyone.

“It is not right that some clubs, like Port Adelaide, are prepared to work with the AFL on enhancing the presentation of the game — but that the rule is not the same for all. It is totally inappropriate.

“Richmond could have worn — as it has before in Adelaide — that jumper with the broader yellow sash.”

Thomas emphasised the AFL decision works against trends in world sport — and strikes against all the intense work the Power has made to re-engage with its once-disillusioned fan base.

“Manchester United, one of the biggest sporting clubs in the world, at the weekend was out of its famous red strip and in blue to avoid a clash with Burnley at Burnley’s home ground,” Thomas said. “That is fair in the English Premier League. And if one of the most-powerful clubs in the world can change, so can the AFL.”

Thomas was told of the AFL decision on Sunday night. His protests — which will continue against the AFL reluctance to revisit the decision — have been followed up by an enraged Power supporter base bombarding the AFL and traditional and social media.

“It is the wrong call — and the AFL should reconsider it,” Thomas said. “And the AFL should not underestimate how this decision will play with our supporter base.

“It strikes against all the positive energy that came with unprecedented demand for our finals tickets and all the work we have done to re-engage with our supporters.

“We have an obligation to stand up for their wishes — and clearly one of those is seeing their football team in its home jumper when playing a home final.

“The bottom line is Port Adelaide finished fifth on the ladder and we won more games throughout the year than our direct opponent Richmond.

“We are therefore adamant that we should be able to wear our traditional black home strip and its incumbent on Richmond to wear a guernsey that doesn’t clash with ours.

“This is the first AFL final at the Adelaide Oval, it’s our home ground, it’s our home final and it doesn’t make any sense that we are not wearing our home guernsey.

“The AFL needs to address this issue so home clubs aren’t put in this position in future finals.”

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